Desna Detailed

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

With work on The Skinsaw Murders wrapping up, we thought we'd give you a brief taste of Sean K Reynolds' insightful exploration into Desna, Golarion's goddess of luck, travel, and more. Presented here is one of several key myths tied to her faith and frequently repeated by members of her flock, as well as a fabulous rendering of her holy symbol by Savage Tide alumnus Ben Wootten.

Lamashtu's Trap: In her earliest days as a goddess, Desna's mentor was Curchanus, a mostly forgotten god of beasts, travel, and endurance, and she spent many nights listening to stories of his travels. Curchanus's enemy was Lamashtu, an equally ancient goddess of monsters, madness, and nightmares who longed for his control over beasts. Lamashtu set a trap for Curchanus, leading him on a strange wandering path into her realm, where she swarmed him with horrible monsters, finally attacking in the guise of a great deformed jackal, tearing his beast-dominion from him. This wound was too great for the elder deity, and as his last act he willed his power over travel to Desna. Since this theft, wild animals have treated mankind as an outsider and an enemy rather than a part of nature, and Desna has searched far and wide to find a way to force Lamashtu to surrender Curchanus's stolen power. The faithful use this story to remind them of Lamashtu's treachery, to honor Curchanus's gift to Desna, and to remind them that failure is just a setback, not an end.

James Sutter
Assistant Editor, Pathfinder